When a Project Doesn’t Turn Out as Planned Is It Still Beautiful?


This is a project that has been on the back burner for a long time and I was so excited to finally get to it. I have to say though that I was disappointed when I finally finished it. I even contemplated not sharing it with you. As quickly as that thought came to my mind though, I brushed it away.

Why did I decide to share it then?

Well, I wanted to be real and honest and show you that even those of us who do this daily don’t always get it right.

So what exactly happened?

It all started with this broken vintage glass.

broken vintage glass

This glass is one of a set and they are my very favourite glasses.

They belonged to my grandmother. Her yard used to be covered in Lily-of-the-Valley each spring and she adored them. They not only looked pretty but scented the air with the sweetness of spring.

They quickly became one of my favourites as well and still are to this day. Every time I see or smell them, they remind me of her.

When I broke this glass, I was crushed. (sadly I have a habit of breaking things!) It just rolled off the counter and before I could grab it, broke into several pieces. I gathered it all up and saved them knowing that I didn’t have the heart to throw them out.

broken glass with Lily-of-the-Valley on it

Fast forward to this year and the pieces were still hanging out in my cupboard. Recently, I did an episode of Hometalk TV and I used resin to make some coasters. I still had half of the pack left when I was done and my broken glass came to mind.

I thought it would be pretty to make sun catchers with the leftover resin and broken glass.

mixing resin to pour in mould

After I mixed the remaining resin, I began pouring it into the moulds until they were about a third of the way full.

This is where it started to go downhill…

silicone mould with resin

After I poured the initial resin into the moulds, I thought I would let it start to set because I wanted the glass shards to be encased in the resin and not poke through.

a broken piece of vintage glass

While the resin was hardening, I used the time to break the glass into smaller pieces. I laid a piece of wax paper on a towel with the glass on top, folded it over, and then carefully broke it with a hammer.

breaking glass with a hammer

I wanted the glass pieces to be small so that I could make a little mosaic in each circle.

broken glass on wax paper

Once the glass was broken, I laid it out to see which pieces I liked together.

arranging broken glass

By this point, the resin was firming up and I thought I would start laying the pieces on top of it. It was firm enough so that they wouldn’t fall to the bottom but still sticky enough to hold the pieces in place.

Unfortunately, in the state the resin was in, it created two problems that affected the outcome.

First, it was so sticky that the moment the glass hit the resin I couldn’t move it or readjust it. I tried and it ended up looking like chewing gum in someone’s hair! Sticky strings everywhere that stuck to the glass and my fingers making a complete mess.

Second, the pieces created air pockets. With some of the glass pieces still having a little curve to them, the air got trapped under them and had no way to escape. UGH.

broken glass in resin

Not realizing the air was trapped, I went ahead and poured the rest of the resin into the moulds and let them set.

broken glass in resin in a mold

The next day when the resin was hard, I unmoulded them and that was when I saw my errors. Not only were there huge air bubbles but because I had been moving the moulds around trying to get the sticky strings to settle down, the resin hadn’t dried in nice circles. They were all lopsided. Double UGH.

As I sanded the edges down, I was pretty disappointed that they didn’t turn out how I had envisioned.

The longer I looked at them though, I started thinking that despite their flaws, they were actually quite pretty.

sandpaper for sanding rough edge of the resin

The wonky sides and air bubbles started to grow on me.

drilling a hole in resin

And, no matter how they looked, I was still able to preserve my grandmother’s beautiful glass.

broken glass encased in resin hanging on a small greenhouse

In the end, this project which felt like a flop reminded me that we all have projects that don’t turn out the way we had hoped. It doesn’t make them any less fun to make or any less special.

sun catcher made from broken glass

plants and small terrarium with chippy paint

So, yes! I do think a project can still be beautiful even if it didn’t turn out perfectly. ♥

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